ARTICLES ABOUT OIL EXPLORATION BY DATE - PAGE 2

* ANP concerned there may not be enough good areas to sell By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The head of Brazil's oil regulator said on Thursday that her agency is unlikely to recommend an auction of oil exploration concessions in 2014, raising doubts of a revival of an annual auction cycle after a five-year hiatus. "I'm not so concerned about having annual auctions as I am about having good areas to sell," Magda Chambriard told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.

CAIRO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Egypt is preparing a timetable for repaying arrears on debts it owes to foreign oil companies operating in the country, the Petroleum Ministry said in an emailed statement on Sunday. The companies will be asked to agree to the proposal, which is being drawn up in coordination with various government entities. The debts have been accumulated over several years. It hopes that by paying back the arrears it will encourage companies to increase investments in oil exploration and development, it said.

SAO PAULO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's OGX PetrÃ³leo e Gas ParticipaÃ§Ãµes SA on Tuesday abandoned plans for the purchase of a number of oil exploration licenses, as the embattled oil producer reassesses its exploration and production program. Rio de Janeiro-based OGX will pay a fine of 3.42 million reais ($1.41 million) for giving up on the acquisition of the BAR-M-213, BAR-M-251, BAR-M-389, CE-M-663, FZA-M-184, PN-T-113, PN-T-114, PN-T-153 and PN-T-168 blocks for which it bid alone in a recent government oil licensing auction.

* Kurds have sent fuel oil, naphtha through Iran for years * Not clear what Iran gets out of the arrangement * Tankers from Iran present documents showing Iraqi origin By Isabel Coles and Daniel Fineren ARBIL, Iraq/DUBAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Iraq's Kurdistan region is exporting crude oil by truck to an Iranian port for shipping to Asia, industry sources say, using a trade route that is likely to anger both Baghdad and Washington. In a dispute largely over revenue sharing, Kurdistan's crude exports through a pipeline controlled by the Iraqi central government dried up last year.

(Repeats with no changes) * Somalia struggles to rebuild after decades of conflict * UN report says conflicting exploration licenses issued * Experts question whether Norway has conflict of interest By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, July 17 (Reuters) - Western commercial oil exploration in disputed areas of Somalia and discrepancies over which authorities can issue licenses to companies could spark further conflict in the African nation, U.N. monitors warned in a confidential report.

LILONGWE, June 2 (Reuters) - Malawi has protested against plans by its neighbour Tanzania to deploy two ships on Lake Malawi, which it says threaten mediation efforts to resolve a long-standing border dispute. Malawi's Foreign Affairs Minister Ephraim Chiume said on Saturday that Tanzanian government officials had stated publicly that the East African nation was buying six new passenger ships, two of which were destined for Lake Malawi. "The Malawi government found these developments unfortunate, especially coming at a time when the mediation process over the boundary dispute is going smoothly," Chiume said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - Brazil should auction production-sharing contracts for oil-exploration rights in its subsalt region near Rio de Janeiro every two years, the head of the country's oil regulator told reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The regulator's chief, Magda Chambriard, also said that a planned sale of oil exploration rights in mature areas to small and medium-sized oil companies will likely happen in 2014.